Christopher Roland Waddle (born 14 December 1960) is an English former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager. He currently works as a commentator. Nicknamed "Magic Chris", football journalist Luke Ginnell wrote that Waddle was "widely acknowledged as one of the finest attacking

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

s in Europe". During his professional career, which lasted from 1978 to 1998, he played for several clubs, including

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

and

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. In 1989, his transfer from Tottenham to Marseille for £4.5 million made him the third most valuable player in the world, and he won three successive

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

titles with the club and played in the

1991 European Cup Final The 1991 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, Italy, on 29 May 1991, that saw Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia defeat Marseille of France in a penalty shoot-out. After normal time and extra time could ...

. While playing for Wednesday he was voted

FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...

for his performances in the 1992-93 season. He also played in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

with

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

and in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. He finished his career in non-league football with

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

Glapwell Glapwell is a village and civil parish on the A617 road in the Bolsover District of north east Derbyshire, between the towns of Chesterfield (7 miles) and Mansfield (5 miles) and Bolsover (3 miles to the north). With 1,467 residents, increasing ...

and Stocksbridge Park Steels, later whilst in his fifties, he continued to play at semi-professional level for

Northern Counties East League The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively. History T ...

side Hallam. Waddle earned 62 caps for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

between 1985 and 1991, which included being a member of the teams which reached the quarter-finals of the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

and the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup. He also played for England at

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned Netherlan ...

. He had a spell as Burnley manager during the 1997–98 season, but has not returned to coaching since. Largely since retiring he has worked in the media for

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

as part of their

and Champions League team.

Club career

Early career

Waddle began his footballing career with Pelaw Juniors, moving on to Whitehouse SC, Mount Pleasant SC, HMH Printing, Pelaw SC, Leam Lane SC and Clarke Chapman before joining

Tow Law Town Tow Law Town Association Football Club is an English non-league football club from Tow Law, County Durham, currently playing in the Northern League Division One, in the ninth level of the English football league system. The team, nicknamed " ...

before the start of the 1978–79 season."Top 50 English Players: Chris Waddle (35)"
''Goal.com. 12 May 2009.

Newcastle United

While working in food processing (a seasoning factory), Waddle had unsuccessful trials with

and

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

."Newcastle Legends – Chris Waddle"
Newcastle United. He joined

as a 19-year-old in July 1980 for £1,000. He made his

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

debut for them in a 1–0 home win over

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

on 22 October 1980 and quickly established himself as an effective attacking midfielder, playing alongside Kevin Keegan and Peter Beardsley as Newcastle won promotion to the First Division at the end of 1983–84 season. In one of his first games in the top flight, against

Queen's Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football, football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home ...

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

on 22 September 1984, Waddle scored a first half hat-trick for Newcastle, who had a 4–0 lead at half time. However, a fight back by QPR saw the game end 5–5.

Tottenham Hotspur

After 46 goals in 170 league games for Newcastle, Waddle joined

on 1 July 1985 for a fee of £590,000 (decided by a transfer tribunal)."Chris Waddle"
''Sporting Heroes.net''. He scored twice on his league debut, a 4–0 home win over

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

on the opening day of the league season, although Spurs had a disappointing season where they finished tenth a year after finishing third, resulting in the dismissal of

Peter Shreeves Peter Shreeves (born 30 November 1940) is a Welsh former football player, manager and coach. Career Shreeves was born in Neath in South Wales where his mother had been evacuated to during the early stages of World War II, but was brought up i ...

as manager and the appointment of

David Pleat David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an English football player turned manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He had two spells as manager of Luton Town, and four as ...

from

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

as his successor. He won an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

runners-up medal in 1987 when Spurs were beaten by Coventry, while they also finished third in the

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

and got to the semi-finals of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

Marseille

On 1 July 1989, after scoring 33 times in 138 league appearances for Tottenham, Waddle moved to French club

for a fee of £4.5 million; the third highest sum ever paid for a footballer at the time. During his time in France the club were French champions three times (1990, 1991 and 1992). They were also on the losing side to

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

in the

. In 1991–92, he also played alongside fellow England midfielder

Trevor Steven Trevor McGregor Steven (born 21 September 1963) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right-sided midfielder. He progressed through the ranks at Burnley, making his debut in 1981 and becoming a regular supplier of goals o ...

, who spent a year in France after signing from Rangers, only to return to Scotland after a single season there. During his years at Marseille, the fans gave him the nickname "Magic Chris". He was known as the successor to former Marseille player

Roger Magnusson Roger Magnusson (born 20 March 1945 in Mönsterås) is a Swedish former footballer who played as a right winger. He is a brother of fellow footballer Benno Magnusson. He played for the Sweden national team and for various clubs in Europe, i ...

. Waddle was also voted second best OM player of the century behind

Jean Pierre Papin Jean-Pierre Roger Guillaume Papin (born 5 November 1963) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a forward. He was named the Ballon d'Or and IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year in 1991. Papin was known for ...

for the club's century anniversary in 1998. Waddle and Marseille reached the

. Although he did not take a penalty, Waddle ended up on the losing side in a penalty shoot-out once again, after the game had ended 0–0 in normal time.

Sheffield Wednesday

Waddle returned to England in July 1992 in a £1 million move to

, then managed by

Trevor Francis Trevor John Francis (born 19 April 1954) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million player foll ...

. The club reached both domestic cup finals in the 1992–93 season (losing both to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

– Waddle scored Wednesday's goal in the FA Cup final replay) and Waddle was voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year in 1993. He helped Wednesday reach the semi-finals of the League Cup in the 1993–94 season, but this latest attempt at winning silverware was foiled by

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, and the next two seasons brought bottom-half finishes in the league for Wednesday. Waddle's past also came back to haunt him in Wednesday's exit from the 1995 FA Cup, when a tie against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

was decided on a penalty shoot out, Waddle again missing an attempt. Francis was axed in 1995 and Waddle's former Tottenham manager

took over. In January 1996, Kevin Keegan attempted to re-sign Waddle for Newcastle United as cover for

David Ginola David Ginola-Ceze (born 25 January 1967) is a French former professional footballer who has also worked as an actor, model and football pundit. A former forward, Ginola played football for ten seasons in France before moving from Paris Saint-G ...

during a suspension, but Keegan's £500,000 bid to re-sign the player who had played alongside him in the Newcastle team more than a decade earlier was rejected and Keegan was unwilling to meet manager

's £1million asking price for the 35-year-old. Around this time,

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

and

were also interested in signing Waddle, but none of these transfers ever happened.

also expressed an interest in appointing him as their player-manager – a role he would finally take the following year – but Waddle saw out the season at Hillsborough. Waddle's later career at Hillsborough was marred by injuries and he was released 5 games into the 1996–97 season (when the Owls were top of the premiership and having taken young sensation

Ritchie Humphreys Ritchie John Humphreys (born 30 November 1977) is an English former professional footballer. He is a former chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) and holds a UEFA A Licence coaching qualification. Humphreys started his ca ...

– 4 goals in 5 games – under his wing) after being frozen out of the team by David Pleat, having played 109 games and scored 10 goals with many more assists.

Falkirk and Bradford City

Waddle joined

, in the Scottish First Division, in September 1996, but returned south of the border to play for Division One strugglers

the following month. Although short, his time at City was a success and he was a firm fans favourite. In a match away to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

he scored direct from a corner in a 3–3 draw live on TV. He also scored a goal in a 3-2

win against Everton at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...

which came second in the February 1997 Match of the Day Goal of the Month. His efforts with Bradford contributed to their survival in Division One, although he did not complete the season there.

Sunderland

Waddle's moved to

, the side he had supported as a boy, for a nominal fee of £75,000 in March 1997, but could not help Sunderland from being relegated from the Premier League at the end of the season, despite scoring once against Everton and providing the assist for all other Sunderland goals scored in that period.

Burnley

In May 1997 Waddle was appointed player-manager of

, moving from Roker Park on a free transfer. Burnley had a disappointing season, only just avoiding relegation at the end of the season. He scored once during his spell at Burnley, the goal coming in a 2–2 draw with

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

in October 1997.

Torquay United

Waddle left Burnley in the summer, and in September 1998 joined

. He played just 7 times for Torquay, before returning to Sheffield Wednesday as a coach. He was appointed reserve team coach in July 1999, and played for a local pub side, but left in June 2000 on the appointment of

Paul Jewell Paul Jewell (born 28 September 1964) is an English football manager and former player, who was most recently director of football at Swindon Town. Jewell began his playing career with Liverpool, continued at Wigan Athletic and concluded in a ...

as manager, just after the club (now blighted by financial problems) suffered relegation from the Premier League.

Non-league career

Following his departure from Torquay United, Waddle enjoyed two seasons with non-league

making 60 appearances and scoring 3 goals. His most notable appearance was in a 12–0 Northern Premier League record win against Frickley Athletic. He also had a brief spell with

and one appearance for Stocksbridge Park Steels in the Northern Premier League First Division, continuing his playing career at non-league level into his early forties.

Hallam

Having played at amateur level in the

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

Wragg Over-40s league for Hallam during 2012–13 season he came out of retirement after 11 years on the sidelines and signed for

based Non-league side Hallam on 22 July 2013. He made his debut against

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in a pre-season friendly, coming on as a substitute at half time. The game ended in a 6–2 defeat for Hallam FC. Waddle signed a one-year deal on 1 August 2013, committing to Hallam for the 2013–14 season promotion push while remaining part of the ESPN commentary team.

International career

Despite being in his 25th year, he was called up for the England Under-21 side and made his full squad debut against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in March 1985. On 26 March 1985, when still a Newcastle player, Waddle was capped at senior level by

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...

's England for the first time in a 2–1 win over

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. He soon became a regular member of the England squad and on 16 October that year he scored his first England goal, on his tenth international appearance, in a 5–0 win over

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Waddle was in England's squad at the

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

and

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

as well as

. Although England were eliminated at the group stages of Euro 88 after losing all three games, they did reach the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup and the semi-finals in 1990. Waddle had an eventful match in the semi-final against

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, which ended in defeat on a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. Waddle hit the post with a shot in extra time, which could have been the winning goal, but then missed the decisive penalty in the shootout defeat as he put it inches over the bar. He says he only took the fifth penalty because

Paul Gascoigne Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talente ...

, who had been suspended from playing in the next game if England progressed, was too upset to take it. He subsequently blamed a chance meeting with

Uri Geller Uri Geller ( ; he, אורי גלר; born 20 December 1946) is an Israeli-British illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic. He is known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other i ...

and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

prior to the tournament for missing his penalty. Waddle's performances in the 1990 World Cup were described as "superb" by Rob Bagchi, writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in 2010. He won the last of his 62 England caps on 16 October 1991 in a 1–0 win over Turkey, more than six years after making his international debut, and having rarely missed an England game since then. He had scored six goals for England, the last against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 27 May 1989. Waddle had fallen out of favour under coach

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

, but after a poor run of results for the national team, when

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...

became the new England manager at the beginning of 1994, he was keen to include Waddle in the squad for his first game against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. However, Waddle was injured at the time and unavailable for selection.

Media career

In 1987, Waddle recorded the song "

Diamond Lights "Diamond Lights" is a 1987 single by footballers Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle, released under their first names, "Glenn & Chris". The song, by the then-Tottenham Hotspur and England teammates, reached number 12 in the UK Singles Chart in May 19 ...

" in a duet with Spurs and England teammate

Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...

. The song reached number 12 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in May of that year and the pair appeared on

Top Of The Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

. Whilst at Marseille he joined teammate

Basile Boli Basile Boli (born 2 January 1967) is a Ivorian-born French former professional footballer who played as a defender, and a current television sports presenter. He spent the majority of his career with Auxerre and Marseille before ending his c ...

in recording a song entitled ''We've Got a Feeling''. Despite spending the 1997–98 season as a manager, Waddle never returned to the coaching side of the game following his retirement and became a TV football pundit, commentator and sports newspaper writer. He previously worked for

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...

and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, he currently works as an analyst for

BBC Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...

football coverage. Waddle appeared on

as a summariser at

matches and also writes a column in '' The Sun'' newspaper. Waddle signed a deal with

to commentate on all England away matches in 2008–09. Waddle then went on to co-commentate for

's English Premier League football coverage and is a pundit on Showsports Arabia, covering the English Premier League, from the studio in Dubai, UAE. In 2003,

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best player ...

named Waddle in his all-time Dream Team Line up. Following

's heavy defeat to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the second round of the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, Waddle criticised the

English Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

, claiming: "The FA sit on their backsides and do nothing tournament after tournament after tournament. Why don't they listen? Why don't they look at other countries and ask 'how do they keep producing talent?' We coach talent out of players ... We lack so many ideas and it is so frustrating. The amount of money in our league is frightening and all we do is waste it on rubbish ideas ... We kid ourselves thinking we have a chance if we keep the tempo up. We can only play one way and it is poor. You can't go on playing football and hoping to win trophies playing a hundred miles an hour and putting teams under pressure for 90 minutes. You've got to be able to play slow, slow, quick and we can't do it." In 2019 Waddle featured in the first season of

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

show Harry's Heroes, which featured former football manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his ...

attempting get a squad of former England international footballers back fit and healthy for a game against Germany legends.

Personal life

Waddle has one daughter, Brooke, a son, Jack and a son from a previous marriage, Jaylen. On 29 April 2012, Jack was given a one-year first-team contract at

. His cousin,

Alan Waddle Alan Waddle (born 9 June 1954) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. Waddle began his career with Halifax Town, signing professional forms in October 1971. He made 22 League appearances and scored the crucial goal in the last ...

, played league football for

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, Swansea City, Newport County,

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

and

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

. In 2005, he was arrested following claims he was involved in a brawl in a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

in Dore,

. No charges were brought due to lack of evidence.

In popular culture

Waddle was a key part of the pool of popular culture references used in the BBC comedy ''

The Fast Show ''The Fast Show'', known as ''Brilliant'' in the US, is a BBC comedy sketch show that ran from 1994 to 1997, with specials in 2000 and 2014. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams (actor), M ...

''. References to, and photographs of, Waddle made regular appearances during the "Chanel 9" news segment of the show.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Marseille * Division 1: 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

runner-up: 1990–91 Tottenham Hotspur *

runner-up: 1986–87 Sheffield Wednesday *FA Cup runner-up: 1992–93 *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

runner-up: 1992–93 England *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

fourth place:

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Individual * First Division PFA Team of the Year: 1984–85, 1988–89 *North-East FWA Player of the Year: 1985 * Tottenham Hotspur Player of the Year: 1988 * Onze d'Argent: 1991 *

FIFA XI FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

: 1991 *

: 1992–93 (Sheffield Wednesday) *

Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 10 ...

: January 1995 *The Dream Team 110 years of OM: 2010

Bibliography

References

External links

Chris Waddle photos & stats
at Sporting Heroes.net * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waddle, Chris 1960 births 1986 FIFA World Cup players American color commentators Association football midfielders Association football wingers Bradford City A.F.C. players Living people People from Felling Footballers from Gateshead Footballers from Sheffield English footballers Tow Law Town F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Olympique de Marseille players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players Stocksbridge Park Steels F.C. players Glapwell F.C. players Hallam F.C. players English Football League players Ligue 1 players Premier League players Scottish Football League players Northern Premier League players Northern Counties East Football League players England under-21 international footballers England international footballers UEFA Euro 1988 players 1990 FIFA World Cup players English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France English football managers Association football player-managers Burnley F.C. managers English Football League managers English association football commentators FA Cup Final players